


Christmas Surprise

by awgaskarth0805



Category: All Time Low (Band)
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Sickfic, hurt comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-15
Updated: 2018-12-15
Packaged: 2019-09-18 15:54:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16998030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awgaskarth0805/pseuds/awgaskarth0805
Summary: Alex meets a sick Jack on the bus on the way home from work on Christmas Eve.





	Christmas Surprise

Alex boarded the city bus and immediately went to the back. There weren’t many people on the bus, since it was about six in the evening on Christmas Eve, but Alex didn’t want to have to interact with people right now. He was upset that he wouldn’t be spending Christmas with his family. So many people at his workplace had requested off Christmas and the days around it, and his ended up getting denied due to this. His family lived all the way across the country, so taking a day trip to see them was out of the question. The only things that were on his agenda was the hour-long commute from the bus stop to his apartment, then he would watch a Christmas movie once he finally got home, and finally he would spend the next day bored out of his mind, since everything was closed on Christmas Day.   
He sat down and pulled out his phone. He began to scroll through his social media pages, trying to figure out what he was going to do to pass the commute time this time. A couple of minutes later, the bus reached its next stop. A few people cam on, and one of them went to the back, sitting across the isle from Alex. Alex didn’t notice this until the boy had a small coughing fit. He looked up from his phone and looked at the person who was sitting across from him. He looked like he was about Alex’s age, and had dark brown hair. The thing that really grabbed Alex’s attention, though, was how absolutely miserable he looked. He was a bit pale, had a bright red nose, and had bags under his eyes. He had on a light coat, so Alex assumed that he was probably cold, since it was only about twenty degrees outside. Once the boy calmed himself down, Alex decided to talk to him.  
“Hey man, are you okay?” Alex asked, getting the boy’s attention.  
“Eh, I’ve been better,” the boy replied in a raspy voice.  
“My name is Alex, by the way,” Alex said, introducing himself.  
“I’m Jack. Excuse me,” Jack replied, before letting out a sneeze.  
“You should be at home, Jack. You sound pretty sick,” Alex observed.  
“I know, but I had to work today. Honestly, it wasn’t too bad, the heat’s out in my apartment, so at least it’s warm where I work,” Jack replied.  
“I’m sorry to hear that. I’d offer to let you stay at my place, so you don’t have to be cold and sick, but I live like an hour out, and I bet you don’t want to be that far since you probably live around here. And, I don’t really know you,” Alex said, lightly laughing.  
“Actually, I live two hours away, so the hour commute doesn’t sound too bad. But, like you said, we don’t really know each other, and I wouldn’t want to intrude, since you probably have plans for Christmas tomorrow,” Jack replied with a cough.   
“Well, I don’t want you to be cold, and I actually don’t have plans tomorrow, so you’re more than welcome to. But we should get to know each other first. Come over here and we can talk some and not have to shout across the aisle,” Alex said, sliding over in his seat to make room for Jack.   
“I don’t want to get you sick by being too close to you,” Jack replied.  
“I’ll be fine, don’t worry about me, just come on over,” Alex said, giving Jack a small smile. Jack weakly smiled back before getting up and sitting in the seat with Alex.  
“So, why don’t you have any Christmas plans, Alex?” Jack asked.  
“My whole family all live in California, and I had to work today, and I’ll have to work the day after Christmas. I wasn’t able to get time off work because I asked for it too late. I obviously don’t have time to go all the way there and see them, so it’s just going to be me tomorrow,” Alex explained.  
“I’m sorry to hear that, Alex. Work can really suck sometimes. What do you do?” Jack asked.  
“I do computer programming for a company, what about you, Jack?” Alex asked back.  
“Wow, that sounds fancy, I’m just a barista at a local coffee shop. I really hate it, especially this time of year, people can be so rude. It’s like they think that we don’t have feelings,” Jack replied.  
“Why don’t you quit?” Alex asked.   
“Cant. I need the money, that’s actually why my heat’s out, I need to pay the bill to get it turned back on. I’ve been looking for a new job, but it’s been stressful with the holidays and everything,” Jack admitted.   
“Damn, that sounds pretty rough, man. Well, you’re more than welcome to stay with me at my place until it gets turned back on, assuming that’s fine with whoever you live with,” Alex offered.  
“It’s just me right now. But, I really don’t want to intrude or anything,” Jack said before blowing his nose.  
“You wouldn’t be intruding at all. Besides, you need someone to take care of you, you sound pretty miserable,” Alex replied.  
“Yeah, I do feel pretty awful. This started as a bad cold, but the mix of no heat and working twelve-hour days has made it so much worse,” Jack explained. Alex started to notice that Jack was shivering.  
“I bet it did. Here, take this, I can see you shivering,” Alex said, handing Jack his thick winter coat.  
“Are you sure, man? I don’t want you to be cold,” Jack said.  
“Yes, I’m sure. You’re sick and I bet you’re running a temperature right now. You need this more than I do,” Alex said back. Jack finally took the coat and put it on.  
“Thank you, Alex. You’ve been so kind to me in the twenty minutes that we’ve known each other. It means a lot,” Jack said, making both of them smile.  
“You’re welcome, Jack. I’ll be honest, I was expecting to spend Christmas all alone, and I was really upset about it. I was in a terrible mood before you got on this bus, but you changed that completely for me. I know that we don’t know each other well, but you seem like a kind, genuine person, and I’m really happy that we met tonight,” Alex explained.   
The two of them continued telling each other about themselves until they finally got to Alex’s stop. They got off the bus and started the walk to Alex’s apartment. It wasn’t a very long walk, but Alex wanted to get there quickly, because he knew that the Baltimore weather was doing nothing to help Jack. Once they finally got to his building, they rode the elevator up to the third floor, then walked to Alex’s apartment.  
“Why don’t you go lay down on the couch, and I can get you one of my sweatshirts and some PJ pants, so you can be comfortable,” Alex suggested.  
“Sounds good to me, thank you,” Jack replied, sitting down on the couch. Alex walked back to his room and found the clothes for Jack. He grabbed the biggest stuff he had, since Jack was a bit taller than him. He walked back out to the living room, and saw that Jack was in the middle of a coughing fit. Alex sat down next to Jack on the couch and rubbed his back until it went away.  
“Thank you, that really hurt,” Jack said, his voice raspier now.  
“It sounded like it did. Go on and change, and I’ll get you some medicine,” Alex said, getting up. He walked into his kitchen and grabbed everything that would probably make Jack feel at least a little better. He walked back into the living room and gave Jack what he brought out.   
“Let me set this couch up for you, it’s a pull out, it’s actually pretty comfortable,” Alex said. Jack stood up and watched as his new friend set up the couch. Alex walked over to a closet and pulled out a big blanket and some pillows.  
“This should keep you warm, and if you need anything else, then just ask,” Alex explained as Jack set himself up with everything.  
“I think I’m good, but thank you so much, Alex. All of this really does mean a lot,” Jack replied.  
“It’s no problem at all. It’s getting a bit late, and I bet you’re tired. We should probably get to sleep. If you need something in the middle of the night, don’t hesitate to wake me up and ask,” Alex explained, shutting off the light.  
“Will do. Thank you again, Alex. Sleep well,” Jack said, already feeling sleep take over his body.  
“Sleep well, Jack,” Alex said, walking back to his room. He sat in his bed, thinking about how he was somehow happy to not be with his family in California right now.  
\-------  
On Christmas morning, Jack woke up to the faint smell of pancakes. He still was definitely sick but felt a bit better.  
“Alex?” Jack called out. There were a few sounds from the kitchen before Alex came out, holding two plates and a bottle of syrup.   
“What’s this?” Jack asked.  
“Well, I was thinking last night about how happy I am that we met and stuff, you really changed my whole mood for today. After you were asleep, I went out to the store and got these frozen Christmas tree shaped pancakes for us. I usually have pancakes with my family on Christmas morning, which is how I got the idea. Also, I didn’t have any sort of gift for you, and thought that this could suffice for now. Merry Christmas, Jack,” Alex explained, making both of them smile.  
“That’s very sweet, Alex. I’m sorry that I don’t have anything for you,” Jack replied, taking his plate.  
“Your friendship is the perfect gift for me. I really hope that we stay friends after today,” Alex said.  
“We absolutely will, you’ve helped me out so much, I couldn’t just take that and leave,” Jack said back.  
“Well, I’m glad to hear that. Also, I’m glad that I’ve been able to help you feel at least a bit better,” Alex replied.  
“You absolutely have, I definitely am still sick because I can feel it, but I am actually feeling a bit better today than I was yesterday. I think the heated apartment helped,” Jack said, making both of them laugh a bit.  
“I’m glad to hear that! Before you eat, let me take your temperature,” Alex said, grabbing the thermometer out of the bathroom, then handing it to Jack.  
“99.9, yeah, you’re definitely sick, but that’s not as bad as it could be,” Alex stated.  
“It’s somewhat better, it was 100.1 before I left for work yesterday,” Jack replied.  
“Well, I’m glad to hear that. Now, I know you’re probably not up for doing much right now, so I was thinking that we could spend the day watching Christmas movies together. It’s still festive, and it’ll allow you to get the rest you need right now,” Alex suggested.  
“That’d be great. Should we watch Elf first?” Jack asked, before sneezing.  
“That’s what I was thinking! Let me set it up,” Alex replied. He sat next to Jack on the pull-out couch, then loaded up the movie on the TV.  
“I know I’ve said this a lot, but thank you so much for everything, Alex. I was prepared to spend Christmas alone and sick in a freezing apartment. This all really does mean the world to me,” Jack said as the movie came on the screen.   
“No problem. I thought I’d be alone today, too, and you changed that for me, and I couldn’t be happier about that. I’m glad that me not being able to go home for Christmas allowed me to make a new friend,” Alex replied.  
“Merry Christmas, Alex,” Jack said, making them smile.   
“Merry Christmas, Jack,” Alex replied.   
The two of them spent the day watching Christmas movies, and Alex did everything he could to take care of Jack. Jack ended up staying with Alex until he was able to get his heat turned back on, and Alex had nursed him back to health. The two of them ended up becoming the best of friends, hanging out as often as they could. Even though the day they met was rough for both of them, they were both so thankful that everything happened the way that it did.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! So, this is a bit later than I meant, but I still got it up! I really love how this turned out, and I hope that you guys do too! There will be one more Christmas story next Friday, then I'm going to the Milwaukee ATL holiday show next Saturday!  
> Lots of love, Liv


End file.
